“Penny for your thoughts?” My boyfriend embraces me and kisses the side of my head.

“I just don’t want it to end. Summer, I mean.” Everything around us looks perfect; the blend of pink and orange of the sky, the slightly dusty bed of his truck, the emerald green leaves on the trees, the cool grass, the birds singing as if they’re recounting their day to one another before going to sleep. 

“But fall is ‘spooky’ season with apples and pumpkins. What’s wrong with it?” He wiggles his fingers. I prickle with irritation. I open my mouth to say something and close it again.

I wrinkle my nose, “I hate pumpkin. Besides, fall just doesn’t hit the way summer does.”

 He shrugs. I want to say how there’s something about fall that doesn’t sit well with me. It feels ominous in a way and I’ve never understood why. Mentioning that would make things awkward and I want to keep things the way they were. I pull out my camera to film the last few seconds of summer slip away.

“Goodbye, summer. I wish you could stay forever.” A couple minutes pass and the sun doesn’t dip below the horizon. 

“Sun’s taking its time to set, isn’t it.” He says casually as he takes a swig of water.

“Is it just me or is it getting brighter?”

I have a feeling that I need to catch this on video so I motion for my boyfriend to hand me my tripod. Minutes pass and the sun is rising to a new place in the sky. Within 15 minutes, we put our sunglasses back on. 

“Huh, maybe your wish is coming true.”

“Babe, is this really happening right now?”

“Well, if it was some kind of atomic or nuclear weapon, we’d probably be dead by now.” His macabre joke makes me squirm. Everything seems as if it’s going in reverse. The day is getting brighter. The birds are chirping and flying around again. The air is getting warmer. Even the people further down the lakeside stop to stare. I open up a social media page to see if anyone in the area is talking about the phenomenon but there’s nothing about the sun.

“What happens if we stay out here?” He asks.

I tie my braids into a low bun, “I don’t know.”

We planned on staying but nature called and I refused to use the park’s restrooms. By the time we got home, the sun was in the spot as it was around 2pm and the temperature had increased to 90º F. I looked at the clock and it read, 2:30pm.

“Why is the clock reading 2:30pm?” I ask.

“What are you talking about? That’s just the time.” We get into a small spat about the time. Still, things don’t sit well with me. Not only does he seem too casual about this, but there’s no buzz about it on social media, the news circuits, and no matter what he says, it was seven-something in the evening an hour ago. It’s not supposed to be 2:30pm.

I make a post about it on my social media page but people only laugh and ask me if I’m hallucinating. The comments make me want to delete the post.

Idk what you’re thinking but it’s almost 3pm now

Lol, you must be dreaming

Summer can stay for all I care, more time to barbecue!

Honey, did you hit your head today?

My friends think I’m crazy but I’m not. I know what I saw and my boyfriend was right there with me. I don’t know why he’s denying the change but I need to find out how to get to the bottom of things.

I need to write down all of my observations. I need to ask my neighbors. This has to be some elaborate joke being played on me. I don’t tell my boyfriend what I’m doing. I don’t want to start another argument, so I leave when he’s distracted with grilling. He’s wearing his “Kiss the Grill Master” apron and singing, “Dancing in the Streets” at the top of his lungs.

I head down the street and I see one of my neighbors pulling weeds in her garden.

“Mrs Pike?” The older woman with smooth, brown skin looks up at me from beneath a wide brimmed hat.

“Oh, hey hon. You wanna help an old woman with these weeds?” she laughed.

“Um, not today, Mrs. Pike. I wanted to ask you about the weather.”

“Yes, it’s nice, ain’t it. I don’t mind the heat so long as I have access to air conditioning and shade. My husband was the opposite. He couldn’t stand the heat. I could never get him to just enjoy summer.”

“Did you notice the sun set then, uh, reverse itself just a couple hours ago?” Mrs. Pike stops her weeding and looks at me with a puzzled expression.

“What sunset? It’s only 3pm.” 

“No, seriously. A couple hours ago, my boyfriend and I were watching the sun set and then it… reversed itself.”

“Hon, I know I’m old, but I’m not senile yet and you’re too young to be. You must be thinking about a dream or something. Do you want to come inside out of the sun?”

“No, Mrs. Pike. That’s okay. Thanks for your time.”

As I walk away, I look back to see her watching me walk away. I just smile and wave. She must think I’m crazy. But I’m not crazy. I know what I saw.

I walk to five or six other neighbor’s houses. None of them know what I’m talking about and say the same thing. It’s only 3:45 in the afternoon. The last place is the corner store a couple blocks away. I’m getting kinda hot so I’ll use that as an opportunity to grab some water.

“Ma’am I have no clue what you’re talking about but you look like you’re ready to fall out.”

“This doesn’t make any sense. Why does no one believe me?” By this time, I’m sweating buckets so I make my way to the freezer section to cool off. I’m standing with the freezer door open and looking at ice cream when an authoritative voice calls out,

“Excuse me, miss? Can I talk to you for a second?”

My heart beats a little faster when I turn around and see a police officer approaching me.

“Hello officer. Can I help you?”

“The owner called us and said that you came in acting strange. I just wanted to check on you and make sure that you’re okay.”

Oh, great. Now the store owner thinks I’m crazy, too.

We talk for a couple minutes and he gives me a chance to tell my story. After the stories that I’ve heard about black people encountering the police, I’m surprised that he’s so calm and patient with me.

“Well, I’m not sure what you’re referring to but you look out of sorts. I’d feel a lot better if you’d let me drive you somewhere safe and out of the heat if you didn’t drive here. The temperature may read 90 but the humidity makes it feel hotter than that. It’s okay to enjoy your summer indoors, ya know.”

He doesn’t believe me either. I agree to let him take me home after I make my water and ice cream purchase. My boyfriend isn’t pleased to see that the police took me home but he’s thankful that I’m okay.

“Babe where were you? When I finished grilling, I called you to eat but you didn’t answer. And you left your phone behind.” I tell him where I went and that no one believes me when I say that the sun went in reverse a couple hours ago.

“It’s 2pm. Why don’t you sit down, have a late lunch and just enjoy the air conditioning? The weather forecast is predicting a sweltering afternoon.” I look at him like he’s the one that’s out of his mind. It was just 3:45 pm not long ago. How is it 2pm again? He just looks back at me with a blank expression.

We watch a Netflix show while eating. It does feel good to be in a cooler environment and the food is pretty good. I’m not quite invested in the show though. I need to keep searching for an answer. I have to take a drive to the next time zone and I have to take it alone.

I’ve been driving for what feels like hours. I waited until my boyfriend went to lay down for a nap and left when I heard snoring. Before starting, I set a stopwatch to gauge how long I’ve been driving since the clock wasn’t reliable. It reads that five hours had passed but when I glanced at the clock on the dash, it reads 3:15pm. I keep driving. As I look for signs of the sun and weather changing, I think about all the people that I’ve talked to. Everyone’s wording was different but the answers were along the same lines. They didn’t know what I was talking about, they quoted the time, and they kept mentioning enjoying summer. If this is some joke, they’ve had their fun but it’s gotta stop. Either that or I really am dreaming. I keep driving. When the stopwatch reaches seven hours, I notice that the sky looks a little dimmer.

“Perfect!” I speed up. I push the gas pedal until the speedometer reads 85 mph. Then, in an instant, it seems as if the car hits something. Like a brick wall except there’s no wall, just an open road. Metal crunches, the airbags go off, and the horn is the last thing I hear as I drift off into unconsciousness.

“Oh, great you’re awake!” I blink a couple times and let my eyes adjust to the light. He pats my foot.

“What happened?” I ask looking around, “I was just in a car accident. How did I end up here?”

“What are you talking about? I laid down to take a nap and you must’ve followed me sometime after. When I woke up, you were sleeping here. I’m getting ready to—”

“No” I say firmly, “I was just in my car. I left when you were asleep and I drove for hours and the clock never showed that I had been traveling for seven hours and then the sky started to show signs of dimming. Then I hit something and—” I ramble on. My boyfriend looks at me with concern.

“It’s only 2:05pm. You’ve been sleeping for a while.”

“What do you mean it’s only two in the afternoon?! No one besides me sees that time has been repeating itself after two hours? How is the sun still shining? And where’s my car?”

“Your car is outside, untouched. Look, it’s summer. Just enjoy it.” He walks away. I get up to shower. When I’m done, I hear him on the phone with what sounds to be an advice nurse. He thinks that my delusion is a sign of some sudden illness. But I’m fine. There’s something wrong with everyone else. Not me. I sit on the side of the bed and make a few more notes. I re-read what I wrote and an idea comes to me. It’s one that definitely sounds wild but I can’t think of anything else.

Am I in a simulation? Am I the only one that’s “awake”? Throughout my day I went through several checks to make sure that I wasn’t dreaming. I’ve never been one to dream but from what I read somewhere, people couldn’t eat, drink, read or write clearly in a dream. I’ve been able to do all of those things today. I even pinched myself with my nails while driving and the pain told me that I wasn’t dreaming. I remember that I took a video of the whole event. I nearly trip over my feet running to the other room to get my bag. This will prove that whatever happened isn’t a figment of my imagination. I pry it open, pull out the SSD card, and slot it into my computer. My heart sinks into my stomach when I see that all of my photos and videos are gone. Somehow, some way the card got erased. I silently curse myself for not using my phone to capture it.

If we’re in a simulation, is all of this a glitch? I don’t have time to worry about my missing photos. There’s nothing I can do about it. I take a deep breath and go tell him my idea.

“Hey, um, I have a theory. I know it sounds nuts but work with me.” I tell him my theory, show him my notes, and even the empty SSD card. When I stop talking, he looks sad.

“It’s a beautiful summer afternoon. I know you’re probably sick but why can’t you just enjoy it?” he grabs my hands.

“I’m not sick.”

“That’s what sick people say. Please let me take you to a doctor. I’ll listen to anything you have to say on the way there. Just do this for me.” He pleads. I can see the worry in his brown eyes. I hate seeing him like this.

“Fine.”

On the drive there, I don’t volunteer any more information. Even if I did have more to say, I don’t want to talk to him right now. He asks me questions and I answer so as not to be rude. He’s supposed to be on my side. He was there when the sun reversed itself and remained stuck in the sky. Why doesn’t he remember?

The medical professionals ask me a bunch of questions and run me through a series of exams and tests. While waiting for the results of something, a nurse comes in carrying a pill in a cup and a cup of water.

“The doctor wants you to take this.”

“What are they for?” I ask.

“She says that this will help you calm down and temporarily stop the hallucinations until we can get to the bottom of this.” He holds out the pills and water.

“But I’m not hallucinating.”

“Ma’am if you don’t take them voluntarily, we have other ways of getting the medication into your system” he sets them down and puts on a pleasant smile. 

“Look, it’s a beautiful summer day. You don’t want to be cooped up in here with us. Take this and you’ll be one step closer to getting out of here.”

I sigh and press the heels of my palms into my eyes. I’m tired of fighting with people about this. Maybe I am hallucinating. Maybe I am sick. Is this what crazy feels like?

“What’s the other option?” I ask softly.

“A needle.” I shift uncomfortably on the bed.

“Fine.” I take the pills and water from the nurse and swallow everything in one big gulp.

“How long until—”

“Penny for your thoughts?” My boyfriend embraces me and kisses the side of my head… and it feels oddly familiar.